Queensland mulls power sale

The Queensland government is looking to generate cash. Photo: Glenn Hunt

The Queensland government has opened the door to further privatisation of its power sector assets as it struggles to revive the state's financial health.

Since Queensland Premier Campbell Newman was elected to government last year, he has moved to slash government costs, first with a hefty round of public sector retrenchments, while it considers privatising and outsourcing a host of government services.

A review led by former federal treasurer Peter Costello called for the full sale of the Queensland government's remaining electricity assets.

In its response on Tuesday, the Queensland government ruled out selling the power sector's distribution assets, although it has opened the door to selling off the power generation assets.

It sold the state sector's electricity retailing assets to Origin Energy and AGL several years ago.

In response to the Costello recommendations, the Newman government said it would seek a mandate from the electorate before any assets were sold.

Selling the power generation assets was ''worthy of an open and transparent … debate'', the government said, pointing to the ''significant financial risks'' of continued ownership. Queensland's main government-owned power generators are CS Energy and Stanwell Corp.

The planned sales follow a study, released on Monday by think tank the Australia Institute, that cast doubt on the benefits of privatisation in the power sector, pointing to the fact that power price rises have outstripped the underlying rate of inflation.

The Energy Supply Association of Australia on Tuesday rejected the study, arguing that electricity prices in Victoria, which has fully privatised its power industry, have risen less than in other states, with Victoria among the most competitive in the world.

''Since South Australia announced it was deregulating retail prices in December last year, retailers there have delivered price cuts of between 9 and 16 per cent.''

Along with opening the door to selling further power industry assets, Queensland said it would move to introduce competitive tendering to the public transport sector, as well as study privatising the ports of Gladstone and Townsville.